Singer, actress, fashion designer, entrepreneur, writer, and mom of two Thalía shares her parenting, lifestyle, fashion, and beauty tips as a POPSUGAR Latina contributor.
This Is How You Start the New Year on the Right Foot
The Christmas and New Year's holidays are an exciting time for me. I love the festive decorations, the nutmeg and cinnamon smells, the beautiful trees, the lights, the delicious foods, the traditional drinks, everything! It's that time of the year in which we focus on enjoying ourselves, and are very hopeful for the future when we look forward to the New Year. Here is what my New Year's Eve celebrations and resolutions look like.
Where I Spend New Year's Eve
I plan New Year's Eve celebrations depending on my mood. In recent years, I have been celebrating very intimately with my two children and my husband. That is how I like it best! We watch the famous ball drop in Times Square on TV. It gives me so much pleasure to be able to do this, because the four of us get cozy in our pajamas, eat popcorn, chocolates, and candy, and we spend the whole evening together, relaxing at home without any distractions. Of course, that is when we are lucky and the little ones stay awake, because usually they fall asleep on our laps before we ring in the New Year!
When I am in a festive mood, I also like to celebrate New Year's Eve with large theme parties! I select the themes based on the people I will be inviting. For a silver party I hosted in the past, I asked guests to wear silver clothes, and I did the same thing for a red and gold party and a white party. The key is to make them fun. I always have a huge array of props, such as bead necklaces, wigs, hats, costumes, feather boas, glasses, and anything I can think of that will make people come out of their shell and have lots of fun while doing it. I also make sure to have a signature drink for the party; it usually includes tequila, but I also love the sound of the Champagne bubbles when it is time to toast the New Year.
Where and How I Start the New Year
I like to celebrate New Year's Eve wherever I feel most comfortable! As I have mentioned before, I absolutely love spending the holidays in warm climates, close to the beach, frolicking under the sun. But there have been occasions in which I have decided to spend it in the mountains, where I can see lots of green and be close to a river or a lake. Basically, I will go wherever I will feel that I am truly on vacation and embraced by nature.
The way in which each of us starts the year is extremely important. I like to welcome the New Year exercising. This is my way of telling my body and my brain to prepare because I want to live a healthy lifestyle, and I would like to focus on working on the well-being of my body, my mind, and my spirit. It is also very important for me to welcome the New Year in a positive and highly spiritual mindset.
In my case, I like to communicate with God by praying. Each person has her own beliefs and ways of praying or communicating with a higher power, of connecting with the universe and its energy. So regardless of how you do it, aim for spiritual equilibrium in your life. We are surrounded by so much violence and negativity that finding a spiritual anchor will help you improve your mental well-being and your confidence. In turn, you will find yourself beginning the year full of happiness and positivity.
What My New Year's Resolutions Look Like
We tend to make a number of resolutions for the New Year, but many of us do not follow through. This happens because we tend to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Through the years, I have learned to manage my expectations and focus on quality instead of quantity. One thing I do that helps me achieve that is to write my New Year's resolutions on a piece of paper and assign different timeframes to each of them. When I finish writing them, I say them aloud one by one in order to internalize the list and make a commitment to myself to tackle each and every one of them at the right time and at a realistic pace.
For example, I want to get very fit in 2016. I am very determined! So, I am planning on establishing short-term goals from January through June. My goals are to increase muscle definition and improve my cardiovascular endurance. Therefore, I am making a commitment to myself to find several activities that I like and can add to the mix in order to not lose enthusiasm. I am planning on walking, running, lifting weights, and doing yoga, and I will strive to find a good balance that will suit my lifestyle. All of these details are going to be written on that piece of paper that I mentioned above!
I also find it vital to also include one or two things that will improve my mental well-being and my attitude. For example, maybe you get very frustrated with a negative co-worker who pushes you around, does not care about working on a team, and completely disregards you as a colleague and professional. This is the opportunity to tackle this! Use your pen and paper to include in your New Year's resolutions that you will stop reacting to that person, and you will do your best to ignore his or her mean and unconstructive comments; that you will not let that person kill your spirit; and that, instead, you will focus on your own happiness and send positive thoughts his or her way.
In my case, as I mentioned above, getting fit is a must, and is at the top of my list of New Year's resolutions for 2016. I also want to finish my next book. The rest of my resolutions are very personal, and I feel that if I share them and talk about them, I may lose sight of their importance and will not take them as seriously as I would like to. So, I am keeping them to myself, and I hope that you do the same with some of yours, too!
I will finish by wishing you an amazing 2016 full of health, which is the best gift we can have, a lot of prosperity and success, and tons of happiness. Remember that happiness and joy are the driving forces of life. Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
